Countdown to the 2024 Olympics! The sporting event will be held in Paris, France, from July 24th to August 11th. In total, there will be 19 days of competition that promise to captivate the world. The 2024 Olympic Games will feature 48 disciplines from 32 sports.
In addition to thrilling competitions and the efforts of athletes, the Olympics offer another valuable lesson: sportsmanship. Particularly for children, the thrilling and intense matches can inspire them to engage in local sports and competitions. The desire to overcome challenges, work as a team, and strive for excellence is a valuable lesson that the Olympics provide.
The journey of an Olympic athlete is a profound lesson. Their career exemplifies discipline, effort, and sacrifice. Here lies an important lesson in sportsmanship: the significance of effort and persistence in achieving goals.
The games also demonstrate that competitiveness is not necessarily linked to hostility. Sport subverts this logic, showing that great rivals are also great friends. Hence the expression “fair play” emerged in this environment, to characterize a fair, clean, and loyal way of playing.
Another teaching of sportsmanship comes from accepting defeats and being encouraged to surpass one’s limits and succeed. Athletes face tremendous pressure, where years of work are tested in just a few moments. Sportsmanship represents values such as victory through personal effort, ethics in achieving objectives, acceptance of defeats, and persistence to move forward with courage and determination.
With this in mind, Ramacrisna invests in sports as a means of transforming lives. Through public and private partnerships, various projects of the Institute offer sports workshops for children and youth in situations of social vulnerability. One such initiative is “Viva o Esporte,” carried out in partnership with the Betim City Hall. The initiative promotes sports activities in 14 different nuclei, aiming to expand the offering of physical, sports, leisure, recreational, and sports activities for the community free of charge. Activities are available for people of all ages, genders, with and without disabilities, with the support of specialized professionals. The following modalities are developed in the project:
In addition to sports practice, students of the “Viva o Esporte” project at Ramacrisna also have access to psychological, physiotherapy, and social work services. According to Solange Bottaro, vice president of the Ramacrisna Institute, “Viva o Esporte” contributes to improving physical and mental health, exercising citizenship, and human transformation.
Thirteen-year-old Ray Araújo is one of the project’s students. His judo classes led him to various championships in 2022, including the Minas Gerais tournament, where he clinched first place. His commendable performance earned him an athlete scholarship, providing financial support for young athletes’ professionalization. “All these championships enriched my athlete résumé, and I believe it was important for securing the scholarship,” he says.
For Ray, this opportunity opens many doors for his future. “It’s a very important achievement for my career because it will financially help me go beyond what my family could afford until now,” he reflects.
All of this was only possible thanks to the Institute’s support. “Ramacrisna was essential in my athletic career, training me and providing all the support for me to achieve all these accomplishments I’ve had so far,” he evaluates. Besides the “Viva o Esporte” project, Ray participates in the “Tatame Cidadão” project, carried out in partnership with Vale and WEG, through the Federal Law for the Incentive of Sports, and “Esporte em Movimento,” conducted in partnership with Vale, Goldman Sachs Banco, Goldman Sachs Corretora, and Itaú Social, also through the Federal Law for the Incentive of Sports.
Like Ray, thousands of people benefit from our projects. Visit our website and learn about all our projects and the activities offered in each one.
